Grant Program Winners

University of Basque Country - March 2016

Prof. Mario Montes, states the “The main objective of our research is the study of structured catalyst systems. These are systems in which the catalyst is deposited as a thin film on the walls of a substrate having large pores or channels. Thus, it is possible to minimize the pressure drop of the catalyst bed without impairment of the diffusion through the external boundary layer or throughout the porous network of the catalyst.” Therefore, it is very useful to have the opportunity to work with gases and vapors to differentiate the nature of the centers, which explains why the option of vapors for AutoChem II 2920 was requested from the Micromeritics Grant Program Read More »

MIT - Civil and Environmental Engineering Department - March 2015

Dr. Roland Pellenq, Senior Research Scientist, states the department “aims at determining the poro-mechanical and transport properties of the most important technological, economical and environmental materials in the world: cement and concrete; source rocks for oil and gas; oxide, glasses and clays for nuclear energy and nuclear waste storage.” To this end they are utilizing a method they refer to as the “nanoscope” as a way to scrutinize and manipulate materials in such a broad range of magnifications. Therefore, the pore structure characterization e.g. porosity assessment, pore size distribution, specific surface etc., is the key factor in their approach and is the reason for they applied for the Micromeritics gift awardSenior Research Scientist, states the department “aims at determining the poro-mechanical and transport properties of the most important technological, economical and environmental materials in the world: cement and concrete; source rocks for oil and gas; oxide, glasses and clays for nuclear energy and nuclear waste storage.” To this end they are utilizing a method they refer to as the “nanoscope” as a way to scrutinize and manipulate materials in such a broad range of magnifications. Therefore, the pore structure characterization e.g. porosity assessment, pore size distribution, specific surface etc., is the key factor in their approach and is the reason for they applied for the Micromeritics gift award Read More »

University of Georgia College of Pharmacy - March 2015

Recipient Michael Bartlett, Ph.D states “With enrollment in the BS program already approaching 200 students this is quickly becoming one of the larger STEM undergraduate major at UGA,” states Michael Bartlett, Ph.D. “By partnering with Micromeritics the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy will be able expose students in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, as well as our Pharm.D. and graduate programs to techniques used in the characterization of drug substances and drug delivery systems.” Read More »

Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering at ETH Zurich - August 2014

According to Professor Dr. Javier Pérez-Ramírez, Principal Investigator, “Our research focuses on the fundamental design and technical development of new catalytic materials and reactor engineering concepts, favoring the more efficient and sustainable manufacture of chemicals and fuels. The 3Flex, a top-notch tool for the precise assessment of porous properties of solids, will give us the ability to measure three samples simultaneously and the upgrade from meso- to micropore will be essential in providing the required resolution for our research work with zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, and carbons. The vapor option is highly advantageous to evaluate the sorption properties of microporous materials. We are very thankful to Micromeritics for the donation of this instrument, which will contribute to the continued development of our research program.” Read More »

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University - April 2014

According to Professor Jing Li, Principal Investigator, “Our main research areas are the development of novel and efficient nanostructured and nanoporous materials potentially capable of several important applications, including adsorption-based separation of small gases and hydrocarbons, water splitting and carbon dioxide reduction. The 3Flex will be essential for the characterizations of various materials and reactions, for understanding the adsorption mechanism, activity of catalysts, as well as their relationship with structures and particle morphology.” Dr. Li has published over 250 papers (including 14 invited reviews and book chapters) and eight patents. Read More »

Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics - September 2013

According to Professor Can Li, Principal Investigator, “The ASAP 2020 will support a variety of research projects. Major projects include research on the rational synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their application to gas separation and catalysis. It will also be used extensively to research the hydrogen production from solar energy and biomass.” Dr. Can Li is currently the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Catalysis. He is the former President of the International Association of Catalysis Societies, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles and is on the editorial board of more than 15 academic journals. Read more »

Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University - May 2013

According to Professors Omar Farha (left) and Joseph Hupp, Principal Investigators, “The HPVA will support our research on the design and synthesis on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and porous organic polymers for gas storage, separations, sensing, and catalysis. The HPVA will be particularly useful in the design and synthesis of high-surface area materials with some of the highest high-pressure hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane uptake capacities demonstrated to date.” Dr. Farha is a research associate professor in the Chemistry Department at Northwestern University. He is also a co-founder of NuMat Technologies, a Northwestern University startup company involved in the design of porous materials for storage applications. Dr. Farha is the pioneer and inventor of a solution that takes advantage of the supercritical behavior of CO2 to eliminate framework collapse. This innovative method, now used by MOF researchers worldwide, opened up access to ultrahigh surface area materials. Read more »

University of Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy. - February 2012

According to Professor Angiolina Comotti, Principal Investigator, “New molecular van der Waals crystals containing permanent microporosity were discovered and their porosity was investigated. We are pursuing this research theme with new molecular porous crystals and polymeric materials exploring different weak and covalent interactions for the fabrication of the microporous frameworks. The ASAP 2020 HD will provide the low-pressure capability and pressure measurement resolution for sub-microporous materials. Our research activity includes the study of advanced micro- and sub micro-porous materials endowed with specific-site properties that will be explored also by solid state and hyperpolarized 129Xe NMR.” Professor Comotti gained the title of Associate Professor in 2010. She has published 80 papers in a wide variety of peer reviewed journals with over 1300 citations and participated in numerous invited lectures. Read more:

According to Dr. Karim Sapag, Principal Investigator, “The ASAP 2050 will be used for experiments focused on the investigation near high vacuum to high pressure adsorption phenomena on a variety of new nanostructured adsorbing materials at different temperatures with different gases. This instrument will service a multi-disciplinary environment consisting of physicists, chemists, and chemical engineers. Research activities will expand the area of material characterization, gas storage, and gas separation by adsorption/desorption measurements with different porous materials like metal-organic-frameworks, carbon nanotubes, activated carbons, mesoporous ordered materials, pillared clays, among others.” Read more:

University of Manchester - School of Chemistry - June 2011

According to Prof. Peter Budd, Principal Investigator, (left) “The University of Manchester has wide ranging activity in the field of nanoporous materials, with the Centre for Nanoporous Materials (CNM) focused on metal-organic framework, zeolite, and mesoporous material research. The Organic Materials Innovation Centre (OMIC) provides a base for the development of novel polymeric nanoporous materials. The concept of “polymers of intrinsic microporosity” The ASAP 2050 will benefit a network of collaborations involving the School of Chemistry at Manchester, the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science at Manchester and the School of Chemistry at Cardiff University.” Read more:

According to Dr. Teresa Bandosz, Principal Investigator, “Our research focuses on environmental applications of adsorption. It involves development of new materials working as effective media towards the adsorption/reactive adsorption of toxic gases, vapors and liquids. The ASAP 2050 will enable us to obtain full texture characterization (surface area, volumes of pores, pore size distribution) and thermodynamic (heat of adsorption). The ability to study small micropores using hydrogen as a probe molecule is a very valuable option. Moreover, the extended range of pressure will allow us more versatility in the evaluation of our materials, which we obtain, modify and test in our laboratory.”Professor Bandosz has published 250 works in numerous peer reviewed journals and currently serves on the editorial boards of both Adsorption Science and Technology and the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. She is also a member of the advisory board of the American Carbon Society.

"The high-pressure (up to 10 atmospheres), research-grade isotherms that can be produced using the ASAP 2050 will be important for studies of carbon dioxide adsorption on novel metal-organic framework adsorbent materials under investigation for carbon dioxide separation from pre-combustion and post-combustion gas mixtures at elevated temperatures and pressures. Additionally, pore size distribution and surface area characterization of novel single-walled nanoporous carbons, tin oxide sensor particles, and cathode-active materials used in lithium ion batteries will be obtained from low-pressure isotherms of nitrogen and noble gases measured at cryogenic temperatures.” Professor Lastoskie is an expert on the subjects of molecular simulation, adsorption, and nanoporous materials. His laboratory investigates novel materials for energy and environmental applications, including metal-organic frameworks for carbon dioxide capture from combustion gases.”Read more:

According to Dr. Robert Rioux, Principal Investigator, “We are working on a number of projects that are quite diverse ranging from studies involving adsorption in porous materials, synthesis of new porous materials and their characterization, the evolution of porosity, surface composition of nanostructures (with magnetic and catalytic applications), and the characterization of catalytic materials (active surface area, isosteric heat of adsorption). The ASAP 2020 micropore option is necessary for studies of microporous and mesoporous silica materials, including a series of new zeolitic materials and mesoporous silica materials that have been discovered here at PennState. The chemisorption option will allow us to determine the number of active sites in a multitude of heterogeneous catalysts that include single-site, tethered organometallics, nanoparticles embedded in nanoporous carbon, and colloidal synthesized nanoparticles encapsulated in a mesoporous silica matrix. I am particularly interested in using the various adsorption models to determine the isosteric heat of adsorption for comparison with calorimetric experiments of the differential heat of adsorption.”Read more:

Georgia Institute of Technology - School of Materials Science and Engineering, Atlanta, GA - April 2010

According to Dr. Gleb Yushin, Principal Investigator,“The School of Materials Science and Engineering is conducting ground-breaking nanomaterials research in a number of areas that include ionic transport in microporous solids, porous electrodes for fuel cells, batteries and supercapacitors, nanomaterials for sensors, porous polymer membranes, gas separation membranes, novel catalysts, nanomaterials for the semiconductor industry, and more. A large portion of samples to be investigated exhibits a high surface area of pores less than two nanometers. The precise knowledge of pore size distribution in the micropore range is crucial for the fundamental studies of ionic and molecular adsorption and transport in the nanoporous solids. Fundamental studies of the transport of ions and gas molecules as well as investigation of materials for catalyst support applications require knowledge about the accessibility of the microporous surface. Studies of the rate of adsorption for gases/vapors of different size help to evaluate the interaction of gaseous species with the surface and estimate how tortuous the nanopores are and to what degree the pores have narrow necks. The ASAP 2020 with its micropore and rate of adsorption capabilities will be a critical analytical tool for supporting our research.”Read more:

According to Dr. Michael Wong, Principal Investigator and Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at RiceUniversity,“My laboratory works at the interface of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Materials Science, with a focus on designing functional nanoparticle-based materials for catalytic, encapsulation/delivery, and energy applications.”Read more:

University of North Texas - Department of Chemistry, Denton, TX - November 2009

According to Dr. Mohammad Omary, Principal Investigator and Professor of Chemistry,“Fluorous Metal-Organic Frameworks (FMOFs) have the potential to be used as practical adsorbents for hydrogen fuel cell based technology. The idea is well supported by the fact that the stability, flexibility, and selectivity in gas storage, separation, and catalytic properties of porous materials will be largely improved by substitution of hydrogen atoms with fluorine to make fluorous pores.” Read more:

According to Aldo Migone, Principal Investigator, Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics,“Research activities will span a broad area of material characterization through adsorption/desorption measurements in three departments: Physics, Chemistry, and Mechanical Engineering. The research that this project will encompass includes, but is not limited to, my own work on porous metal-organic-frameworks and carbon nanotubes, Prof. Talapatra’s work on metal hydrides and carbon nanotubes, Prof. Daves’s work on porous sol-gel glasses, and Prof. Mondal’s research on active catalysts.” Read more:

According to Prof. Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Principal Investigator and Director of the Tufts NanoCatalysis and Energy Laboratory,“The focus of our research group is on clean energy technologies, in particular fuel processing, and catalytic hydrogen generation, that involves fundamental studies of catalysts, including catalyst preparation, characterization, and reaction kinetics studies, as well as investigation of different sorption reactions for clean up of product or exhaust gas streams. Studies of surface processes and materials characterization are of paramount importance to our research effort.”Read More:

Columbus State University - Department of Chemistry and Geology, Columbus, Georgia - February 2008

According to Dr. Anil Banerjee, Principal Investigator, “The Pulse ChemiSorb 2705 system will be used for chemisorption and physisorption studies on a number of projects. We are setting up a catalytic research group that will conduct research in the areas of hydrogen storage and catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide using platinum, non platinum group metals, oxides, and alloys. Our plan also includes the training of a selected number of high school chemistry teachers (working in our federal Teacher Quality project) and very talented high school students.” Read more:

Georgia Institute of Technology - School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Atlanta, Georgia - October 2007

According to Christopher Jones, Principal Investigator, “The AutoChem II system will directly enable new research approaches in 21 projects covering four different research groups. The instrument will play a central role in my catalysis and adsorptive separation research program.” Read more:

University of Queensland - Division of Chemical Engineering, Brisbane, Australia. - June 2007

Their research focuses on characterization, adsorption, reaction, and transport properties of nanoporous materials. Dr. Suresh Bhatia, Principal Investigator states, “The ASAP 2020 micropore option is essential for our ongoing activities on characterization of carbons and other microporous solids. Here we have developed a new density functional theory technique considering wall thickness heterogeneity, and are currently investigating the temperature as well as adsorptive dependence of micropore accessibility in carbons.” Read more:

Dr. John Monnier, Research Professor and Principal Investigator states,“One of the primary emphasis areas of the University is nanotechnology, and the efforts are being led by the USC Nanocenter. Nanoscale catalysis is a focal point, or thrust area, of the Nanocenter which includes not only the traditional areas of catalyst synthesis and evaluation for environmental and chemical processes, but also the Future FuelsTM initiative at USC which is heavily focused on fuel cells and alternative energy sources, of which catalysts and electrocatalysts are key components."Read More:

University of California Berkeley - College of Chemistry - December 2006

Alexander Katz, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Principal Investigator states,“The AutoChem II 2920 Chemisorption Analyzer with related components will be an integral and critical piece of characterization equipment within the UC Berkeley Catalysis Center. This instrument will be used to determine the concentration and acid/base characteristics of catalytic active sites on solids in a fashion that cannot be accomplished by other techniques. In particular, this will be used to investigate the chemisorption of H2, CO, CO2, and N2O, as well as reactive chemisorption using hydrogen and alkanes as reductants.Read more: